STTA overhauls annual awards, with axed paddler Feng Tianwei missing out

SINGAPORE — It is an annual event to celebrate the achievements of Singapore’s national paddlers and coaches.

But the Keppel-Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) Awards threw up a surprise for the table tennis community on Wednesday night (Feb 15), with the event, and its awards categories, undergoing an overhaul this year.

While the national sports association had previously handed out nine awards, including the Sportsman of the Year, Sportswomen of the Year, and Outstanding Coach of the Year, the categories were scrapped for the 2017 edition.

New categories were introduced this year, with a total of 11 honours worth S$30,000 handed out for the Role Model Award (Gao Ning), Outstanding Performance at the Rio Olympics Award (Zhou Yihan), Outstanding Performance at the South-east Asian Table Tennis Championships Award (Lin Ye), Inspirational Award (Clarence Chew), Achiever Award (Zeng Jian), Special Award (Pang Xuejie), and more.

The overhaul meant that world No 4 Feng Tianwei - who had won the Sportswoman of the Year accolade numerous times - was conspicuously missing from the winners’ roster this time.

The three-time Olympic medallist was unceremoniously axed from the national women’s team last October as the STTA cited the need for team rejuvenation. Reports subsequently emerged that the paddler had been dumped from the team for ill-discipline, disrespect and misconduct.

Explaining the STTA’s decision to overhaul its annual awards, STTA president Ellen Lee said on Wednesday: “We wanted a change, and wanted it to evolve differently. There was a group of youngsters who did well and we want to give them recognition.”

When queried if the STTA had deliberately omitted Feng - the Republic’s top performer last year after winning the Asian Cup and Women’s World Cup - from the awards, she added: “I cannot stop people from speculating. We are grateful for what she has done, but it is time to recognise our other players.

“This is a STTA function, and since she (Feng) is no longer a part of STTA, we have moved on and that is only fair to the other players. This recognition is for players who are in the STTA.”

The STTA has had to weather a number of storms in recent times, particularly after Feng’s axing from the national side last October triggered a public backlash.

Former world champion Li Hu was also sacked in the same month for disciplinary issues, while the national men’s team has also been hit by a number of retirements with veteran players Yang Zi, Zhan Jian and Ma Liang hanging up their bats due to injuries.

Just last week, one of their brightest young talents Chen Feng also decided to retire from the sport to spend more time with his family as his mother is in ill health.

Despite the changes to the team, Lee is confident that the younger players will be able to fill the gap left by the senior paddlers at this year’s SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

“We have a good crop of younger players who did quite at the recent SEA Table Tennis Championships. They have shown much promise and potential,” she said.

“Winning is not everything, the most important thing is to get players who have Singapore’s interests at heart.

“Clarence Chew and Pang Xuejie have played in previous SEA Games and won medals. There may be fewer medals (this year), but the important thing is to field them to play for Singapore.”